BURGERS AND DOGS FANCIED UP >>>

Burgerama

The history of the hamburger is fairly mythical. The Menches family of Ohio say they invented the hamburger at an 1885 fair in Hamburg, New York, when heat and humidity forced them to stop butchering pigs. In all probability, the hamburger was a good idea waiting to happen, and a bunch of folks stumbled upon it around the same time.

The Ram Restaurant & Brewery might not have invented the hamburger, but it has been serving them since 1971 when the Ram Pub opened in the old Villa Plaza in Lakewood. Ah, good times.

Today, The Ram has locations throughout the nation, and the burger is still front and center on its menu — more so than ever with its current promotion, Burgerama - "The transformation of the burger to an artform." The restaurant chain has created "10 works of art," according to promotions, which includes The Ricardo, Moody Blue Cheeseburger Salad, The Elvis, Reuben - Make Me A Burger ... and the two huge burgers I tried Saturday night at the Ruston Way location: the Hillbilly and The Cheeseburger Skirt. The Hillbilly comes with frizzled onions, blue cheese crumbs and blue cheese mayo. The Cheeseburger Skirt - and speciifically "The Skirt" is a bunch of cheese allowed to overflow and fry on the griddle, creating something like a dairy based piece of female clothing. It's a stretch, but it will fill your stomach. Both burgers, actually, are a lot of food - especially with fries included.

National Corn Dog Day

Like the hamburger, the origin of the corn dog is debatable. Doyle's Public House in Tacoma doesn't really care about the history. They know National Corn Dog Day is Saturday, March 20, and they're ready to celebrate. Held amidst the revelry of the NCAA March Madness hoops tourney, the Stadium District bar will offer $1 corn dogs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday - in addition to tater tots for 5 cents a pop.

Bonus

By the way, the Varsity Grill in downtown Tacoma is offering something called the Mac 'n Cheese burger beginning tomorrow.